I just got back from vacation.

Today was my first day back at work from my vacation in Portugal. It only took 5 minutes into my commute to realize that Americans have no clue how to drive.

Driving in Europe was a dream. All of the 20th century roads and highways were smooth. People stayed to the right, passed on left, used their turn signals, and slowed down on small country roads to allow you to go by. You never saw someone on their phone, reading a newspaper or had a purse dog on their lap.

I get home and people don't yield when they should, left blinker on to make a right hand turn, speed on the right, cut you off to be one car ahead, only to slow down and exit. I even had a guy cut me off into a Dunkin Donuts parking lot and take up two spots in his SUV just so he can be ahead of me to get his coffee.

Please explain to me how I can drive through narrow busy city streets in Lisbon and Cascais and not curse for 10 days, but within 5 minutes of driving in suburban America, I feel like spider monkey slapping a baby panda?

People bitch and complain about gas prices here. It took 90.00&euro; to fill up my Fiat Punto. That's almost $118. Maybe raising gas prices will keep some of these jackasses off the road.

Europe had speed controlled areas that trigger red lights if you go too fast, circles to eliminate unnecessary lights and traffic, smooth roads even in rural areas and responsible and alert drivers. How is it that this country, with all of the brightest people at its disposal, can't even do one of those things?

People bitch and complain about gas prices here. It took 90.00&euro; to fill up my Fiat Punto. That's almost $118. Maybe raising gas prices will keep some of these jackasses off the road.

Well lookie here. We got ourselves one of them there commie socialist marxists. Son, whah duh yuh hate Murica?

"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering."
- Doctor Who (Fourth Doctor) "Face of Evil"

There are no checkpoints unless you leave the EU into Russia. It's all open borders, driving into the Netherlands (Holland) from Germany is like driving from Georgia into Tennessee.

Metric works because everything is closer together, imperial works in the USA because everything is soo damn spread apart and desolate compared to Europe.

Europe's highway networks ****'s all over our Interstate system, most of which is the same piece of engineering from the 60's. Just like most of our infrastructure is just constantly patched and repaired, but built nearly 70 years ago or more.

Best at war you say? Is that why we left Iraq, and the Taliban is winning in Afghanistan because our own gov't gives them the weapons to fight against our soldiers so some douchebags that own stock in companies involved in the military-industrial complex can sleep soundly knowing their shares are appreciating in value? At the expense of our crumbling infrastructure, at the expense of the poor working class having to deal with no health care, at the expense of tarnishing our image around the world? You must be a conservative.

Best at war you say? Is that why we left Iraq, and the Taliban is winning in Afghanistan because our own gov't gives them the weapons to fight against our soldiers so some douchebags that own stock in companies involved in the military-industrial complex can sleep soundly knowing their shares are appreciating in value? At the expense of our crumbling infrastructure, at the expense of the poor working class having to deal with no health care, at the expense of tarnishing our image around the world? You must be a conservative.

Whats the combined deathcount of soldiers/enemy forces in those two theaters?

That's what I thought. They can't even face us on the battlefield. These two "wars" are more police actions than anything.

I'm totally joking by the way. We do kick ass at war though, even the ones we lose.

Like we really needed to waste billions on technology to kill people when our predecessors made sufficient tools to do so. Also what a juvenile way of thinking the country is soo great, just because it possesses superior weapons to cause mass death.

Like we really needed to waste billions on technology to kill people when our predecessors made sufficient tools to do so. Also what a juvenile way of thinking the country is soo great, just because it possesses superior weapons to cause mass death.

Would you rather a .22 pistol revolver or a mossburg pump if somebody invades your house?

Walk quietly, but carry a big stick. Somebody famous said that.

That's how we roll.

Also, constantly preparing for war is the best way to ensure peace. -Another famous person said this too.

What part of the trip did you enjoy the most, and I have to ask how was the food ?

Spending time with my family was probably the best part. As for the food, I was staying with my parents in a small village, so everything was fresh. The eggs were from the ducks and chickens next door, bread was delivered daily and OJ came from the orange trees in the yard.

And as for anyone ing about me complaining. Explain to me how a continent that was a mess in the 40's; who requires archeologist staffing to do almost any construction, can accommodate modern transportation through 700 year old cities and manages to have a road system 10 times more sophisticated and maintained than the US?

Explain to me how a continent that was a mess in the 40's; who requires archeologist staffing to do almost any construction, can accommodate modern transportation through 700 year old cities and manages to have a road system 10 times more sophisticated and maintained than the US?

Better public transportation, more opportunities to walk / devoid of suburban sprawl, and fewer drivers per capita.

And as for anyone ing about me complaining. Explain to me how a continent that was a mess in the 40's; who requires archeologist staffing to do almost any construction, can accommodate modern transportation through 700 year old cities and manages to have a road system 10 times more sophisticated and maintained than the US?

Because in Europe if your a dumb f*ck with a minimum wage job you take the tube, bus, walk, etc..

In USA if your a dumb f*ck you drive a beat up old Buick in NJ or finance a Dodge V8 pickup for 84 months.

Last edited by 2.0T_Convert; 04-11-2012 at 07:01 PM.

Sent from my tablet while sipping weak drinks over fancy brunch with a view

Spending time with my family was probably the best part. As for the food, I was staying with my parents in a small village, so everything was fresh. The eggs were from the ducks and chickens next door, bread was delivered daily and OJ came from the orange trees in the yard.

And as for anyone ing about me complaining. Explain to me how a continent that was a mess in the 40's; who requires archeologist staffing to do almost any construction, can accommodate modern transportation through 700 year old cities and manages to have a road system 10 times more sophisticated and maintained than the US?

Easy, I'll field this question.

You see, they are all packed in that little mass of land like dogs in a kennel. Over here, we have so much room between cities that there is naturally more roads to maintain.

If you have more people using less roads, those roads will require more maintenance. If you are facing space requirements because of old infrastructure, the design will have to be more inclusive instead of the long straight stretches over here in North America.